Bobbin support



Nov. l2, 1940. c. D. BROWN 2,221,732

BOBBIN SUPPORT Filed June 5, 1940 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 12, `1940 UNITED STATES BOBBIN SUPPORT Carl D. Brown, Hopedale, Mass.,` assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Massi, a corporation of Maine Application June 5, 1940, Serial No. 338,972

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to bobbin changing looms, and more particularly to bobbin supporting devices for use With the rotary hopper Y type of magazine commonly employed on such 5i looms. Y

Such hopper usually includes a suitable stand supported on the loom frame and carrying a xed stud or shaft on which is` journalled a pair of axially spaced discs having means to support between them, about their circumference, a series of bobbins. The bobbin holding means in these discs are usually comprised of recesses or sockets in one disc to receive the butts of the bobbins and spring clips in the other disc to bear axially against the tips of` the bobbins. The hopper is rotated by suitable means, to successively position the bobbins against a combined stop and bobbin guide, thus presenting them in position for transfer to the shuttle.

Various means have been provided, in mechanisms of the aforementioned type, for retaining the bobbin in contact with the bobbin guide during the rst part of the actual transferring operation. A common type of bobbin support is that which is pivotally suspended from the hopper stand vto swing rearwardly against the action of a spring as the bobbin is transferred and it is to. this type of bobbin support that my invention pertains. Since the usual ytype of swingfm ing bobbin support was capable of movement in one direction only, i. e., approximately horizontally about its pivot point, it Was necessarily positioned so that the top of its bobbin guiding surface was below the path'of the largest diameter .35 butt Which the hopper was designed to accommodate, consequently, the butts of the bobbins were not supported against movement radially of the hopper and the bob-bin in position for transfer would drop down until its butt contacted the g@ bobbin support.

Then, the constant vibration of the hopper, incident to operation of the loom, would cause the bobbin guide and support, acting with a pawland-ratchet effect, to rotate the bobbin either in 4.5; a direction to tighten and break the filling or to unwind it so that a loop could project down into the path of moving parts of the loom and be broken. Breakage of the llingbetvveen the bobbin and the end holder results, of course, in failo ure of the shuttle to thread up after transfer.

'l have found that if the butt of the bobbin next to be transferred can be held up in its pocket in the disc and maintained rmly against the bobbin guide the bobbin will not rotate, and the aforementioned cause of improper operation of the loom will be eliminated. I propose to obtain this desirable result by a modification `of the bobbin support. l l

Accordingly, it is a principal object of my invention to provide, in combination With a `5 rotary hopper, a swinging bobbin support having a Acam surface yieldingly urged upward andto- Ward the bobbin guide to effectively maintain the butt of the bobbin next to be transferred up in its pocket and in contact with the bobbin guide.

A further object is to provide a yielding cam surface such that if a bobbin becomes trapped during transfer the cam surface will helpfto roll the bob-hin over the front wall of the shuttle Without breaking it.

Referring to the accompanying drawing which illustratesthe preferred embodiment `ofmy invention:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional vievv of a rotary hopper and associated parts, embodying lmy in- 2Q` vention; Y l y Fig. 2 -is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 ofFig. l;

Fig.v3 is a detached detail showing the relation of parts during transfer of a bobbin; and 25 Fig. 4 is a view similar to that ofv Fig. 3,` certain of the parts being shown in cross-section.

As the present invention is concerned only with the bobbin support, its mounting and its mode of cooperation with the hopper. and transferring mechanism, only such devices, and a fragment of one corner of the loom lneed be herein illustrated and described.

Accordingly, the right front corner of the loom frame is illustrated'generally at I, the lay at 2, 35 the right hand shuttle box at 3 andthe shuttle at 4, the latter parts being shown in section.

A hopper stand 5 is supportedfrom the frame I in any suitable manner and supports a fixed shaft or stud 6 upon which are revolubly mount- 40 ed discs 'I and 8. Thedisc 'I is provided with a series of recesses or pockets 9 for the reception of the butt ends l0 of a series of bobbins arranged about thecircumference of the disc and extending parallel to the axis thereof. The tips of the bobbns are supported by spring clips II circumferentially arranged about disc 3 in axialalignment with the respective pockets 9. Thus the' stand 5 and the above described parts carried thereby constitute a rotary hopper.

The hopper is rotated step by step, to successively. present the bobbins for transfer, by the Well-known stop pavvl I2 and feed pawl I3 operating on the teeth of a ratchet I4 xed, to or integral lwith disc. 'I. The feedpawl I3 is operated 55 by transfer hammer I5 to which it is pivoted as at I6, the transfer hammer being operated by a bunter I1 on the lay 2, engaging dog I8 pivoted to the transfer hammer and controlled by the usual means not shown.

A curved member I9, fixed to the hopper stand, serves as a stop, for limiting the rotation of the hopper and thereby properly positioning the bobbin 20 for transfer. Member I9 also serves as a guide, for guiding the butt of the bobbin during the first part of the actual transferring operation.

The swinging bobbin support, to which my invention particularly relates, includes an arm 2|, suspended from above the bobbin 20 next to be transferred and carrying at its lower end a head 22. The upper end of arm 2| is provided with a hub 23 and is pivotally connected to the hopper stand 5 by means of a bolt 24.

The forward end of member 22 is recessed as at 25 to provide for the reception of a lip member 26. Lip member 26 is pivotally connected to member 22 within said recess by means of a pin 21 passing through the opposite walls of the recess. Lip member 26 has a bottom surface 28 substantially flush with and forming a continuation of the bottom surface of member 22. Lip member 26 also has a top surface 29 substantially flush with and forming a continuation of the top surface of member 22. The forward end of member 28 is curved to form a cam surface 30. A coil spring 3| is fitted onto the pin 21, one end 32 of the coil spring bearing against the bottom surface of member 22 and the other end 33 of the coil spring bearing against the bottom surface of member 26, whereby member 26 is yieldingly urged to turn in a clockwise direction about pin 21, as viewed on Fig. 4.

A spring 34 is connected at one end to the arm 2| of the bobbin support and has its other end fastened as at 35 to the hopper stand 5. Spring 34 yieldingly urges the member 22 toward the curved stop member I9. An` abutment 36 on the frame 5 acts as a stop to limit the forward movement of arm 2 I.

The member 22 has on its inner side adjacent the arm 2| an upstanding projection 31. The forward end of projection 31 extends forwardly over the inner side of the recess 25 and acts as a stop to limit the upward movement of member 26 about the pin 21. The rear wall of the recess 25 forms a stop to limit the downward movement of member 26 about the pin 21.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The spring 34 yieldingly holds the member 22 in a forward position with arm 2| abutting stop 36 on frame 5, as shown in Fig. 1. When in this position the cam surface 36 of member 26 is yieldingly held up against the butt of the bobbin 20 by spring 3 I, thereby holding the bobbin tightly inv its pocket 9. Upon the downward movement of the transferrer hammer I5 and bobbin 20, the lip member 26 will be turned about the pin 21 to the position shown in Fig. 3 where the rear end of member 26 abuts against the forward end of member 22 and farther downward movement of member 26 is thereby stopped. Upon further downward movement of transferrer I5 and bobbin 20, the curved cam surface 30 of member 26 acts as a guide for the bobbin butt and members 22 and 26 are swing rearwardly as a unit about the bolt 24 as a pivot. Thus it is seen that regardless of the variations in the diameter of the various bobbins, each bobbin when in transfer position will be tightly held in its pocket by the upward pressure of lip member 26. Also if during the transferring operation a bobbin for some reason should become trapped the upward pressure of lip member 26 in conjunction with the forward pressure of the members 22 and 26 would tend to roll the trapped bobbin over the front wall of the shuttle thereby avoiding breakage and damage to the shuttle.

It should be noted that although the bobbin support of my invention has been shown and described as attached to a rotary hopper it is equally adapted to be used with any other type of hopper employing a swinging bobbin support.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

l. In a bobbin changing loom, the combination of a hopperV stand, a hopper carrying a plurality of bobbins, means to move said hopper to successively present said bobbins in position for transfer, a transferrer and a swinging bobbin support, said support comprising an arm pivotally suspended from said stand and carrying a bobbin supporting head at its lower end, and resilient means carried by the forward end of said head for bearing upwardly against the butt of the bobbin in position for transfer and preventing it from dropping down out of said hopper prior to operation of said transferrer.

2. In a bobbin changing loom, the combination of a hopper stand, a rotary hopper carrying a plurality of bobbins, means to rotate said hopper to successively present said bobbins in position for transfer, and a swinging bobbin support, said support including an arm pivotally suspended from said stand and having a bobbin supporting head at its lower end, a movable lip carried by said head at the forward end thereof, resilient means for urging said lip upwardly against the butt of the bobbin in position for transfer, and resilient means holding said swinging bobbin support in supporting position.

3. In a bobbin changing loom, the combination of a hopper stand, a rotary hopper carrying a plurality of bobbins, means to rotate said hopper to successively present Said bobbins in position for transfer and a swinging bobbin support, said support including an arm pivotally suspended from said stand and having a bobbin supporting head at its lower end, a movable lip pivotally connected to the forward end of said head, said lip having a curved bobbin guiding surface, spring means for urging said lip upwardly against the butt of the bobbin in position for transfer, and spring means for holding said swinging bobbin support in supporting position,

4. In a bobbin changing loom, the combination of a hopper stand, a rotary hopper carrying a plurality of bobbins, means to rotate said hopper to successively present said bobbins in position for transfer, a combined stop and bobbin guide fixed to said stand engaging the bobbin next to be transferred, a swinging bobbin support, and spring means for holding said support forwardly in supporting position, said support comprising an arm pivotally suspended from said stand and having a bobbin supporting head at its lower end, a movable lip member pivotally connected to the forward end of said head, and spring means for urging movable lip member upwardly into contact with the bobbin next to be transferred whereby radial movement of said bobbin prior to transfer is prevented, said lip member having a cam surface for guiding the bobbin during transfer.

5. In a filling replenishing loom, the combi- 75 nation of a rotary hopper arranged to support a series of bobbins about its circumference, means for rotating the hopper to successively present the bobbins for transfer, a combined stop and bobbin guide engaging the bobbin next to be transferred, a bobbin support pivotally suspended from said hopper and carrying at its forward end a cam surface engaging and supporting the said bobbin, said cam surface normally lying in the same plane as said support, resilient means urging said cam surface to a plane at an angle to said support, and resilient means urging said bobbin support forwardly into supporting position, said cam surface acting to roll an improperly transferred bobbin over the front wall of the shuttle box.

6. In a bobbin changing mechanism for looms, the combination of a hopper stand, a rotary hopper carrying a plurality of bobbins, means to rotate said hopper to successively present said bobbins in position for transfer, a combined stop and bobbin guide engaging the bobbin next to be transferred, a transferrer and a swinging bobbin support, said support including an arm pivotally suspended from said stand and having a bobbin supporting head at its lower end, said head having a recess in its forward end, a movable lip member located in said recess and pivotally connected to said head, a pair of stops carried by said head for limiting the movement of said lip member about its axis, a spring normally urging said lip member upwardly toward one of said stops and spring means urging said swinging bobbin support forwardly into supporting position.

CARL D. BROWN. 

